Corissa Lee Yasen (December 5, 1973 – May 12, 2001) was an American collegiate and professional athlete.

Corissa Yasen
Personal information
Born(1973-12-05)December 5, 1973
Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.
DiedMay 12, 2001(2001-05-12) (aged 27)
Listed height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Career information
High school Coeur d’Alene
(Coeur d’Alene, Idaho)
CollegePurdue
PositionGuard
Career history
1997Sacramento Monarchs
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

She was born in Omaha, Nebraska,[1] and attended high school in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

Yasen attended Purdue University and became a nine-time All-American and 10-time Big Ten Conference champion in track and field. She was Purdue's Female Athlete-of-the-Year as a junior and senior and was a Big Ten Medal of Honor winner, as well as Big Ten Athlete of the Year.[1] She also won the NCAA heptathlon title in 1996.[2] Yasen also joined the Purdue women's basketball program, as a starter, during her final year of eligibility.[1][3] She graduated in 1997 with a degree in pharmacy.[4]

She went on to play for the Sacramento Monarchs in 1997, the inaugural year of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).[1] During the WNBA offseason, Yasen served as an assistant coach for a high school girls' basketball team in West Lafayette, Indiana when they won the state championship in 1998.[1]

On May 12, 2001, she was found dead in her apartment in Coeur d'Alene. She had been working at a pharmacy in Hayden, Idaho.[3][4] Her death was ruled as a suicide by an "acute multidrug overdose." A forensic autopsy performed by the Spokane County (Washington) coroner led to a panel of toxicology tests, which were conducted by the National Medical Services Laboratory in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. High levels of diazepam, hydrocodone, lorazepam, fluoxetine and other drugs were found in the toxicology analysis. Investigators also recovered substantial quantities of various intravenous drugs and narcotics in Yasen's residence.[4]

Career statistics

edit
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 TO  Turnovers per game  FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 Bold  Career best ° League leader

College

edit

Source[5]

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
1996-97 Purdue 28 28 34.7 .461 .596 6.2 1.5 2.4 0.6 2.4 11.4

WNBA

edit

Source[6]

Regular season

edit
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
1997 Sacramento 19 0 9.9 .404 .000 .500 1.1 .3 .9 .1 .8 2.7
edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e May 15, 2001 Purdue Exponent obituary Archived July 27, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "GoldandBlack.com - Corissa Yasen Found Dead". 2001-05-14. Retrieved 2017-09-05.
  3. ^ a b May 20, 2001 Spokesman-Review article on Yasen's memorial service
  4. ^ a b c June 27, 2001 Purdue Exponent report on the autopsy Archived July 27, 2011, at archive.today
  5. ^ "Purdue Media Guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-08-08. Retrieved 2017-09-05.
  6. ^ "Corissa Yasen WNBA Stats". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 26 December 2023.